Souvanna Phouma

Souvanna Phouma (7 October 1901-10 January 1984) was Prime Minister of Laos from 21 November 1951 to 20 October 1954 (succeeding Phoui Sananikone and preceding Katay Don Sasorith), from 21 March 1956 to 17 August 1958 (succeeding Sasorith and preceding Sananikone), from 30 August to 13 December 1960 (succeeding Somsanith Vongkotrattana and preceding Boun Oum), and from 23 June 1962 to 2 December 1975 (succeeding Boun Oum and preceding Kaysone Phomvihane). Along with Souphanouvong and Boun Oum, he was one of the "Three Princes" of Laos, and he led the "neutralist" faction during the Laotian Civil War.

Biography
Souvanna Phouma was born in the kingdom of Luang Prabang in 1901, and he was a nephew of King Sisavang Vong and half-brother of Souphanouvong. He studied as an engineer in Paris and Grenoble before returning to French Indochina in 1931. After the collapse of Japan in 1945, he served briefly in the provisional government, but when his uncle welcomed the return of the French in 1946, he joined the neutralist Free Laos movement, in opposition both to the French-supported monarchists and the Viet Minh-aided communist Pathet Lao. As Prime Minister he managed to negotiate Laotian independence through the Geneva Agreements, while failing to obtain a truce with the Pathet Lao led by Souphanouvong. He finally managed to form a coalition government with the Pathet Lao in 1957, though this broke up in 1958 owing to internal squabbles, and the withdrawal of US aid. Civil war resumed between his forces and the Pathet Lao until 1973, apart from a brief period in 1962-3, when he formed another coalition government. He tried desperately to maintain a semblance of neutrality for his country, despite the heavy involvement of the Pathet Lao in the Vietnam War. He continued to strive for a reconciliation between all the warring factions in Laos, and in 1973, encouraged by the Paris Peace Accords, he agreed to a ceasefire and to a coalition government with the Pathet Lao under the leadership of Souphanouvong, though this did not come into effect until 1974. He was greatly weakened personally by a heart attack, and politically by the fall of Saigon, which made a communist takeover by the Vietnamese-sponsored Pathet Lao inevitable. He thus resigned, but remained on friendly terms with the new government of Souphanouvong. He died in Vientiane in 1984.